THE WHEAT CULTUKIST. 



269 



gan we seldom escape a frost throngh the montli of Sep- 

 tember. Last season was one of those exceptions that 

 will sometimes occur in general rules, the effects whereof 

 cannot be guarded against. If my recollection is right, 

 there was no perceptible frost throughout the month of 

 September, and I have no doubt that the present crop 

 of wheat was materially injured by the insect in conse- 

 quence of the very warm and unseasonable weather in 

 October and part of iTovember, the very early sown 

 fields, of comse, suffering the most." 



J. S. Gesner, of Canada "West, in a prize article on 

 the culture of wheat, says : " I have found the last week 

 in August and the first week in September, to be the 

 best period for sowing winter wheat in this locality. It 

 is useless to sow any variety — except the Mediterranean 

 — ^in this vicinity, later in the season than the time just 

 mentioned." 



J. Homes, of Chittenden, Yermont, writes : I know 

 of no better mode to prevent the ravages of the midge 

 than early sowing, and even this sometimes fails. The 

 last week in August, or the first in September, I would 

 prefer, but this depends upon circumstances ; if the 

 weather is dry and hot, I would rather wait until Octo- 

 ber. Some years since I made an experiment to test 

 early and late sowing. One piece was sowed the last 

 week in August, one the last week in September, and 

 one in the middle of October, on the same kind of soil, 

 and treated in every respect alike. There was no difier- 

 ence in the time of ripening or in the quality of the 

 grain ; but the earliest sowed produced the longest 

 heads, consequently yielded more per acre. 



Hon. Isaac N'ewton, Commissioner of Agriculture, 

 recorded the following facts touching the influence of 



